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Benefits of BreastfeedingMother's milk is the best
food possible for the newborn baby. Breast milk
works as an all in one nutritional supplement.
Breast milk works as a thirst quencher,
medication, food supplement and for the mother it
works as a weight loss program with no equal.
Although, there are formulas that can be used for
replacing breast milk, they do not have the same
supplements as the natural milk from the mother.
The American Academy of Pediatrics "..recommends
that babies be breast-fed for six to 12 months.
The only acceptable alternative to breast milk is
infant formula." (Williams, 1995). Breast milk is
a perfect combination of nutrients and antibodies
for an infant's fast growing system. Breast milk
is made up of fatty acids, water, lactose, and
antibodies. The antibodies in breast milk help the
baby fight off many illnesses within their
environments as well as help them build their own
immune systems.

Without these antibodies babies
tend to get sicker more often, and it can take the
babies longer to recover from these illnesses.
Since the food is coming directly from the breast
rather then a bottle, there is less likely a
chance of bacterial infection that can come from a
bottle not having been properly sterilized. One of
the great benefits of breastfeeding for mothers is
the ability to loose the extra weight gained
quicker. The mothers body uses alot of the stored
food in the body and converts it to milk for the
infant. Breastfeeding also helps stimulates the
uterus to contract back to its original size
(Williams, 1995). This quick recovery, at the
least will help the nursing mother with her self
esteem.

Breastfeeding also brings the infant
closer to the mother. Through breastfeeding, the
mother and the child can build a very strong
emotional bond. New born infant's sight is only
between 12 to 15 inches. When a baby is
breastfeeding, the baby will be able see his or
her mothers face from that distance, as well as
get accustomed to the smell of the mother. Fathers
might be a little jealous at this stage, because
there seems to be no need for them at this time.
"One study..

showed that the babies who received
no breast milk had IQS 8 points lower on average
than those who received breast milk." (Dremer,
1997, para. 6)One other great benefit of
breastfeeding is lowering the cost of everything.
Although, the mother will be eating more compared
to her normal pre-pregnancy stage, the cost of
purchasing extra food for the mother versus buying
formula is obvious. Formula tends to be extremely
expensive without any of the extra benefits of
real human milk. On top of the formula cost, a
baby that feeds from breast milk will less likely
get sick. This will mean less medical bills.There
are occasions where a mother will not be able to
breastfeed the baby.

Those are very rare but they
do happen. As an example, HIV is one of the very
few diseases that can be found in breast milk. If
breast milk cannot be used, then formula is one of
the better solutions. Formulas were created by
studying the makeup of breast milk. Another way of
finding the right nutrition for the infants has
been through donor milk programs.

There are some
human milk banks available for individuals who
cannot breastfeed their babies. Although this is
not a cost effective way of feeding a baby, it is
probably the next best thing compared to the
biological mothers milk. Donor milk costs
approximatly 3 dollars an ounce, which makes it
cost prohobitive to most people, but they do say
that they will not turn away any baby in need, no
matter what. (NWHIC, 2003)ReferencesDermer, A. MD,
Montgomery, A.